Determination
by Gumnut
Summary: "Don't tell Scott." Episode tag and spoilers for 3.24


Title: Determination

Author: Gumnut

9 Feb 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: "Don't tell Scott."

Word count: 2619

Spoilers & warnings: SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 EPISODE 24

Timeline: Episode Tag

Author's note: This one is for akiretya and somnousbutler for egging me on :D I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

He waited until they made it home, the cockpit of Two stinking of wildfire smoke despite her filtration systems. No doubt it was leeching off their uniforms and it sunk into everything.

Throughout the rest of the mission, Gordon had kept an eye on his brother. He knew he would hide a missing leg if he could and if he wasn't entirely focussed on watching out for Virgil, it could have been easily missed. the subtle flinches, the shortened breaths, the way he didn't turn fully to join in the tired discussion on the way home.

After it happened, first chance he got, Gordon commed John to give him the lowdown on Virgil's condition and begged his big brother not to notify his eldest brother.

"Gordon, Scott needs to know."

"Not yet, please, John. Scott is under enough stress, let me handle this one."

The silence at the other end of the comline was enough to give Gordon hope as he galloped the pod towards the old dam wall.

"It's a question of safety and whether he is fit to fly. His respiration and heart rates are up. He's obviously in some pain. His blood pressure is steady and there is no sign of bleeding...yet. This could endanger his life."

Gordon swallowed. He knew what Scott would do if he found out. "Keep an eye on him, then. Just don't tell Scott. He doesn't need to worry." He didn't need to worry about Virgil telling Scott anything. The man rarely admitted to injury unless he had to. "You monitor him from up there. I'll co-pilot home."

"Scott will not be happy if he finds out."

"You let me worry about that. I owe Virg this."

"You're scared Scott won't let him launch with us."

Of course he was. "We can't launch without him, John. I'll look after him, I promise."

His space bro had grumbled some more, but eventually let it slide with some dire threats if Virgil's health deteriorated.

A few words to Alan and the incident was secure for the moment.

Of course, Virgil then picked the damn crablogger off the forest floor. Having seen him move an entire tanker, something that weighed so much more than the old logging machine, it seemed a small thing, yet the tanker had required everything Two could put into her rear thrusters. The crablogger was relying on Two's VTOL which, while strong, had nowhere near the shove of those rockets sticking out her tail.

Two struggled and Virgil with her. John pinged Gordon twice, concerned about Virgil's blood pressure and the strain he was under. If Gordon was honest, his own blood pressure skyrocketed at the news, but he hung on. Don't tell Scott.

So it was with some relief when Two picked up her pod and Gordon was finally able to re-board the green behemoth and check on her pilot himself.

Virgil's hands were steady on the yoke as they turned for home, but he was pale and his breathing faster than it should be. He looked exhausted.

"Hey, Virg, want me to take over? This was a rough one."

The raised eyebrow glare he received in answer was a very clear negative.

Stubborn idiot.

So it wasn't until Two finally settled on her turntable and wound down to silence, that Gordon was able to take his bull-headed brother by the horns.

He waited that extra moment for Alan to skedaddle out of the cockpit and start working on the module reset, before tackling Virgil head on.

"So are they broken, cracked or just bruised?"

Virgil's head turned on his neck so fast, Gordon was surprised he didn't hear it snap. "What?"

"Virg, I'm not an idiot. I'm the one who shot you with the magnetic grapple. I saw what it did to you."

His brother closed his eyes. "Don't tell Scott."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Even pinged Johnny to stop him from following procedure."

"He knows?"

"Of course, he does. Your suit screamed at him."

"But Scott doesn't?"

"Not from me, Alan or from Johnny."

"Oh, thank god." Virgil wilted where he sat, head falling into his hands with a groan.

Gordon almost commed Scott right in that moment. It always hurt to see a brother hurt, but the bigger the brother the scarier it was and Virgil was one of the biggest. He swallowed and took it on. "Okay, we gotta get you checked out."

A ragged breath. "I don't think it is too bad."

"I'll be the judge of that." He climbed out of the co-pilot's chair and offered his brother a hand. "C'mon, Virg."

Virgil pushed his chair back and with the upmost care, leveraged himself out of it.

A wince and a couple of words under the man's breath and they made their way to the infirmary.

Alan was waiting there for them.

"Alan!" Gordon hissed at his brother. "You're supposed to be covering for us with the module."

"I just want to see if Virgil is okay." His little brother's blue eyes were wide with worry. "I saw what happened, too."

Virgil sighed. "I'm okay, Allie, I promise."

"But what if you can't come with us?"

Virgil straightened and strode over to Alan, his two big hands landing on those much smaller shoulders. "Nothing is stopping me from going to get Dad. I'm not staying behind."

Gordon swallowed behind him, knowing that if push came to shove, it would be him that burst that bubble. God, please let Virgil be okay.

"C'mon, Virg. Strip and up on the bed. Alan, go be the distraction I told you to be."

Alan's lips thinned and he glared a little, but it was more worry and sad than anger. "You let me know as soon as you can."

"I will, just go! Scott will be back soon and if that module is still sitting there in that condition, he'll start asking questions we can't answer. I'll be down to help as soon as possible."

"Okay, okay, I'm going." His hand brushed over Virgil's arm and squeezed gently as he walked past. He didn't say anything, but the intent was obvious.

Virgil's eyes followed him. "Thanks, Allie."

A small smile and he was gone.

"Strip, Virg, we gotta get this done before Scott gets back."

-o-o-o-

Virgil had a lump in his throat. He was caught between what was right and what he wanted.

He shed his clothes down to his undershorts, noting every movement, every spark of pain.

The magnetic grapple had caught him side on, flipping him into a mid-air roll and flinging him across the ground. The exo-suit took most of the impact, but his body strained against the padding that could only take so much.

As he climbed up on the bed, every damned bruise on his body complained.

"Shit, Virg."

He straightened on the edge of the bed and looked down at himself. Yeah, it felt pretty much like that.

His right arm had some serious complaints about its treatment as the impact point. Again, the exo-suit claw had taken the brunt of the force, or it would have been likely he'd be missing said arm, but the bruising was blatant, mottling an outline of the suit's contact points. His shoulder wasn't happy at the wrench it had received either.

But none of that compared to where the arm of the exo-suit had collided with his torso and hip. The padding was there, but as a lower point of stress on usual use, it was thinner and his ribs had taken a beating.

He was reminded with every breath.

"Lie down and let the scanner tell us what the damage is." Gordon's expression was ever so worried.

Lying down hurt. Gordon helped him get horizontal.

Virgil let the breath from his body escape and relaxed ever so slowly into the mattress. "Ow."

"No kidding."

Gordon hit the sensors and a holographic version of Virgil's innards appeared above him.

A moment as Gordon studied the readouts.

Virgil held his breath.

"Oh, thank god." Gordon wilted beside the bed. "You tough bastard. Lots of bruising, but nothing broken." A frown. "No wait." Virgil sucked in another breath. "A crack. You've cracked a single rib." An exhausted sigh. "Hell, Virg, you're black and blue, but mostly in one piece. It's a damned miracle."

Virgil closed his eyes in relief.

And his exhausted body took the opportunity for what it was and attempted to drag him under.

"Hey, don't fall asleep here. Only a few more minutes. Just need to make sure I double check everything." His aquanaut brother played the medbed's controls to run a variety of scans. "You're going to need pain relief."

"I'll manage."

"Manage to hide this from Scott? You know him. He'll freak."

"I've had worse."

Those brown eyes looked down at him in concern. "Virgil, we're going into space. You know as much as I that we will be out of our comfort zone."

"I can handle space." A frown. "Are you okay?"

A glare. "Of course, I'm okay. I'm just saying that it is space bro territory, not ours. Both of us will be outside our specialisation. That in itself will require extra thought on a daily basis. Not to mention that this is about Dad. The next few days are going to be anything but restful. With these injuries on top of it all and the need to keep them from Scott...there is no shame in the need for pain management."

"I cannot face this fogged out of my brain on pain pills." He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his legs sliding off the side of the bed.

Ow, god damnit, ow!

Gordon grabbed him, helping him up. The holograms blinked out.

"At least take some paracetamol. It won't mess with your head."

He sighed and everything hurt. "Fine. Give me the damned pills."

It was a sign, obviously, that Virgil didn't get up and get them himself. The next few days were going to suck big time.

Gordon dug through the cabinet, came back with a box of pills and handed them to Virgil. "Be kind to yourself, please."

Virgil sighed, taking the box with resignation. "Thanks, Gordy."

An arm wrapped gently around his shoulders and he found himself subject to a Gordon hug. "Sorry I had to shoot you."

Virgil let his head drop gently against Gordon's. "Had to be done. Thank you."

"John, Alan and I will be keeping an eye on you."

"I figured."

"Look after yourself. I don't want to have to tell Scott."

"Neither do I." Hell, it wasn't just about whether he would be allowed to go on the mission. The thought of adding injury to the worry Scott already had... "I'll do my best."

"Your best is pretty damned good."

Virgil smiled just a little. "Family trait."

Gordon snorted and pulled away gently. "Get your clothes on before eagle-eye gets home. Cover those bruises up. Look after that rib."

"Thanks, Gordy."

"Anytime. I've got to go cover for you with Alan. Go hide in your room and let the Terrible Two tackle our authority figure."

"Don't do anything stupid." Okay, so technically he was used to being part of that authority.

Gordon grinned. "Trust me, Virg."

Flat glare. "Yeah, sure."

"You wound me." A mock hand to his chest. "And after I shot you to save you. This is the gratitude I get."

He ducked out the door before the pillow could hit him.

-o-o-o-

Whatever the Terrible Two did, it worked. Scott returned after taking the rescue scouts home and no doubt getting caught up in reminiscing about his own days as the leader of their pack. Scott never did anything by halves and his career as a rescue scout was a prime example of starting at the bottom and taking out the top by conquering it. The man was a hard act to follow and Virgil was well experienced in that following thing.

It was a good thing, though. His big brother came back happy for the first time in ages. Scott was sentimental to some extent. He liked to look back.

Looking back at their father was fast becoming looking forward.

Virgil crawled out of bed for the debrief. He kept up the facade of happy and healthy despite the looks three of his brothers managed to throw him on a semi-regular basis.

He snuck out and went to bed early, claiming he had a project he was working on. The next morning, he wondered how the hell he was going to do this.

He could barely move.

He was shirtless, on his belly and everything just hurt.

Hell, damn, how?

"Lie still, Virgil." Gordon's voice was quiet.

"Gordy?" His voice was morning rough and muffled by his pillow.

"Stiff as a board?"

"Ow, yeah."

"I can help with that. Give me a second."

"What?"

But then something wonderfully warm touched his back. It was moist and smooth and god, it gently rubbed out the stiffness.

Virgil groaned into his pillow.

Gordon snorted. "I finally get to return the favour for all those post swim meet rubdowns you so kindly did for me."

Another groan. It hurt, but god, the relief...

Gordon worked gently over his back and arm, some fragrant cream allowing his hands to slide smoothly across his skin.

"How does that feel?"

A grunt.

Another snort. "Don't bother going back to sleep, Brains has gone over Two and will be reporting his findings in the lounge in half an hour."

Shit.

Virgil flung himself out of bed and everything moved.

Including the room.

Gordon grabbed him. "Hey, slow down, give yourself a moment."

He scrunched his eyes closed. Breathing still hurt like hell. Maybe he could hide in his studio for most of the day and curl up on the couch there.

"Here." He opened his eyes to find Gordon offering him a couple of pills and a glass of water. "It's only paracetamol, I promise."

At this point he was almost willing to try the harder drugs. Wordlessly he took the glass and the pills and threw them down his throat.

"Thank you, Gordon."

"Not a problem." But his brother's eyes were assessing him. "You sure you can do this?"

A single nod. "I have to."

A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "I want to check you out again today. Alan is going to drag Scott out to the sensor bank on the far side of the Island at two o'clock. You meet me in the infirmary?"

Another single nod.

"Grab yourself a shower and I'll have some breakfast ready for you downstairs. If you can make it past Grandma, Scott should be a breeze."

Virgil groaned.

"Yeah, well, that's the deal. Hopefully one day we will be able to look back and share this story with a laugh, but right now, you've got to get through this without endangering yourself or anyone else."

"Thanks, Gordy."

"You've already said that. Just remember this next time Scott comes to you with blue hair looking for me, yeah?" And his goofy little brother grinned at him.

Oh, right, he might be paying for this forever.

A small smile.

It was worth it.

-o-o-o-

Half an hour later when the good news that Thunderbird Two had survived the mission better than he had, came through, he definitely was elated enough to throw himself off the couch and offer Brains another hug.

But he was ever so glad when the man refused it.

They were going after Dad.

Finally.

The determination in his big brother's eyes was a fire that burned within them all.

And together they could do this.

-o-o-o-

FIN.


End file.
